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School Swimsuit

Patchouli thinks every girl should wear one.

A staple of many anime, the School Swimsuit (also abbreviated to sukumizu, from "school mizugi [swimsuit]") is either the older skirted two-piece

◊, or a newer, simple one-piece

(the former most often for elementary schoolgirls, with the wearer's name on a large white label in front, and the latter for middle and high school girls); while it is not particularly exposing, it nevertheless manages to serve as fanservice, as well as nostalgia (for those lovely school swimming classes!) and moe appeal.

While most such School Swimsuits are dark blue, occasionally, girls are shown wearing white versions, for similar reasons to why men love wet T-shirt contests.

If a character even brings this to the Beach Episode rather than wearing a bikini, it is to show that she is more prudent (or in some cases, more immature) than the rest of the cast.

Contrast Barely-There Swimwear. See also Joshikousei, Sailor Fuku and Catholic School Girls Rule.

Important note: If image links are provided, please be discreet, tasteful, and/or discerning!

Examples

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Anime & Manga

All too many female characters in Hentai anime and manga wear school swimsuits, sometimes even when they are no longer in high school.
As a general rule, whenever there's a Pool or Beach Episode, you can count on the youngest (or at least youngest-looking) girl in the ensemble to wear one.
Many a series or fan art combine the School Swimsuit with thigh-high socks for no reason other than Rule of Sexy.
Konata from Lucky Star wears her school swimsuit on a beach, because of "people with special interests". Kagami is astonished that Konata can still fit into a swimsuit from the sixth grade! (And then she bursts Konata's fanservice bubble by pointing out that "special interests" people probably don't come to the beach.)
Excel from the Excel Saga manga once wears a school swimsuit to a beach, and gets a lot of attention. She's long since out of high school, but never bought another swimsuit because she didn't want to waste any money. She also wears one in the anime, specifically for Fanservice purposes. Excel is shown graduating from high school at the start of the first episode. What that means in regards to her age, given the general continuity level of the series, is an exercise best left for the viewer.
Ringo from Air Gear wears one as part of her "Crescent Mask" disguise. People even call her "School Swimsuit Mask" while she's wearing that disguise, to the point where she slips up and calls herself that.
In Fruits Basket, Tohru wears once a school swimsuit — causing Shigure to have an interesting reaction, and her friends to take up a collection to buy her a new one.
H2O: Footprints in the Sand has a male example. Don't ask◊.
In Ichigo Mashimaro, when the girls go to the beach, Miu eventually notices that Chika and Matsuri are wearing their swimsuits from school, but nothing comes of it... for them, anyway.
Chocotto Sister: There is official artwork of Choco wearing one of these. Even though Chocotto is never shown going to school.
Mahou Sensei Negima!
- Some of the girls in wear these. Understandable, given that they're in school and all. But some of the girls will wear them outside of school, while others wear something flashier (and often skimpier).
- The most hilarious use of this was during the Mahora Festival Tournament Arc where Eva found herself in a bet with Al where she will be forced to enter her next match wearing a school swimsuit together with a whole bunch of other classic fanservice accessories if Setsuna loses the match. Even resident pervert Chamo was impressed at Al's knowledge of turn-ons.
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu. When Tessa visits Japan, she gets convinced by Kurz that she should wear a School Swimsuit that makes her stand out from Jindai High's one. Then Kaname makes a mention that her swimsuit is something that "maniacs would find attractive."
Takatsuki Yayoi in The iDOLM@STER.
Azumanga Daioh
- School swimsuits tend to only come up when swimming at school (natch), with mostly bikinis being worn to the beach at Chiyo's summer home and to Okinawa (the exceptions being Osaka and, after the first year, Chiyo, though those aren't school swimsuits, either). However, in the sports fest one year, Kagura can be seen running around in the background looking for a school swimsuit, and in the manga, when Tomo suggests making a girly uniform, Kimura already has a design for it, involving a school swimsuit, a school uniform top, a pair of bunny ears, and pantyhose.
- In the manga, Yukari wears a bikini to the school pool while the swimming club is meeting there. She considers that it might be too much for the young boys to handle, but if she wore a school swimsuit, "they might like that better."
Kurosawa: I guess it's a matter of taste...
- Kimura is just plain obsessed with them. In the manga, he notes in front of his class that a teacher friend of his, who teaches at an all-girl school, told him that the kids there wear their PE outfits in homeroom because they have PE as their first class. "And in summer, they wear their... their swimsuits..." He bursts into tears at the thought.
In an early episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shinji is explaining to his friends that he is fascinated with Rei, while they're ogling the girls in their swimsuits. Shinji doesn't mean that he's fascinated with her sexually, but his friends certainly interpret it that way — asking exactly which part of her body he's so enamoured with.
The episode of Gate Keepers where the invaders try to use Shun to seduce the girls. They are all wearing bikinis but they end up wearing school swimsuits by the episode's end.
Nagi (plus a younger Maria on a flashback) from Hayate the Combat Butler wears this on the manga, the first anime AND the OVA before the second anime. And the circumstances are different on each case. In the OVA's case, it made her the only one fulfilling the narrator's promise of "Prepare to die of moe"!
Strike Witches: Yoshika and Mio wear this under their uniforms (well, the shirts...), probably since they come from Japan... hu, Fuso.
In the Valkyria Chronicles anime, the Beach OVA has Isara wearing a school swimsuit, probably because Aisha doesn't appear and Isara is the youngest and cutest girl (and flat). On a series that happens in Europe, in a pseudo-World War II. Let's not think too hard about it.
Saki: Yuuki and Saki wear these in the second ending and on the mandatory Beach Episode (Though Saki's might be just a similar-looking one-piece). They also happen to be the only flat-chested girls in the Five Girl Band. There's also official art of the entire Five Girl Band wearing a school swimsuit.
While she's (sadly) never seen wearing it, Nagisa from Clannad says she wouldn't mind wearing one of these if Tomoya wanted.
In Heavens Lost Property, the main character's class has a School Swimsuit-Meido cafe. And it works.
The main character of Akane-iro Ni Somaru Saka has a big fetish for school swimsuits. At the end of the anime, Minato wears one for him.
In the 6th episode of Magikano, a ghost is placated when each girl's bikini is replaced with a sukumizu.
The Ashford Academy swimsuit in Code Geass is essentially this, but with the school's emblem over the left hip rather than the white nametag. It's most commonly seen on Shirley, an honest-to-goodness member of the swim team, but one episode shows C.C. kicking back into school pool after hours.
Natsumi from Keroro Gunsou is seen in her school swimsuit in an early episode. Her swimsuit even gets incorporated into her "Powered 723" battle-suit, much to her chagrin.
Some Pool Scenes in Ranma � have the Fūrinkan girls wearing school swimsuits... including Female!Ranma, who have little choice since s/he the cannot stay male in the cold water of the pool, and thus has to don a girl swimsuit. The various Beach Episodes have more diverse suits.
In Card Captor Sakura, Tomoeda Elementary has uniforms for everything: bathing suits, warm-weather uniform, cold-weather uniform, ski outfit, winter coat, gym clothes...
Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Inspectors has ending scene resemble Beach Episode with each girl wearing bikinis, with exception of Latooni Subota who wear a school swimsuit.
In High School Girls, Ayano wears a traditional School Swimsuit on a date... even though the actual school swimsuits are a more modern design.
For some reason, all the female pilots in Infinite Stratos have this as part of their uniforms.
In Harem Anime Shuffle, during the Beach Episode Nerine's father decides to invoke this trope, making his daughter dress up in a School Swimsuit to play to the fetish. Instead, everyone present finds the moment awkward before they just move on.
Nemu Kurotsuchi gets to wear one in Bleach's Beach Episode. Funnily enough, Tite Kubo drew her wearing one in the art book beacause he decided it was the most perverted swimsuit an adult could wear.
Rinne: The series takes place in high school, so when swim season comes along there are some chapters that center around the school's swimming pool. Since these chapters tend to focus more on Sakura's experiences with the local ghosts, it's inevitable that it's the female classmates and the female teachers that spend most of the time in the swimsuits, with some changing room scenes thrown in for good measure. Seeing as it's Rumiko Takahashi of Magic Skirt fame, however, even the Fanservice shots are quite tastefully done.
Wandering Son has a chapter, and and episode in the anime adaptation, where the characters were in swimsuits. One of the characters wore one of her two-piece swimsuits instead of the school one, like all the other girls.
The twelfth episode of the anime Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka shows Yuu wearing the older skirted version on the group's outing to an indoor pool. She still has to wear some of her armor, though.
In episode 7 of Yumekui Merry, Yuuji is dismayed that his friend Isana has picked out one of these for otherworldly visitor Merry Nightmare, prompting this immortal line:
Yuuji: Couldn't you have found a swimsuit that shows off Merry's vagina bones a little better?
In Gakuen Babysitters, Inomata initally goes to the beach in her middle school swimsuit. Usaida jokes around by asking whether or not she has a fetish, and the female teachers insist that they go and get her something cuter. She switches to a normal swimsuit afterward.

Fan Works

There are numerous examples of the girls of Gensokyo shown wearing such swimsuits. The most common targets are Nitori and Youmu.
- Of special note is the artist/musician WINN, who has a whole series of fanart and fanvids featuring the Girls wearing school swimsuits.
- Winn is almost certainly the best example of this trope (at least as far as Touhou + school swimsuits goes), considering that he (?) even manages to work in action scenes and the occasional Crowning Moment of Heartwarming (although YMMV). That is... not exactly easy when your main character is dressed in Fetish Fuel. See for yourself.

Video Games

Ar Tonelico has a fair amount of artwork of the Reyvateils wearing school swimsuits.
One of the randomly selected pictures shown upon clearing a stage in Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice depicts a number of the female class types wearing these, which is fitting, considering the game's school setting.
Pangya has one of these swimsuits available for Kooh to wear.
Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure. Our protagonist, Parin, has one of these as her swimsuit of choice. It's also a bonus costume.
The Dead Or Alive Xtreme subseries have school swimsuits in navy blue, navy blue with name tag, and white.
Arcana Heart: Kira Daidouji wears one all the time.
Triggerheart Exelica: Exelica's body suit is white school swimsuit.
In Lightning Legend Daigo No Daibouken, the dark-blue older version of it is Yuki Shirogane's unlockable alternate outfit.
In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha As Portable: The Gears of Destiny, this is one of Reinforce Eins' unlockable alternate outfits, complete with a swimming tube. Yes, Reinforce Eins. The tragic, mother-like, Really 700 Years Old personification of a Weapon Of Mass Destruction. Rule of Funny.
Averted, strangely enough, in Persona 3 and Persona 4, where none of the cast ever wear thse, despite them all being in high school AND other fanservice clothing being available (such as Meido, Chainmail Bikini and almost Barely-There Swimwear).
The young female Tuber trainers in Pokemon Diamond And Pearl and Platinum wear these.

Other

Japan-based swimsuit maker, Footmark has developed a new design, which is even more conservative than the current school swimsuits and cuter in style.
Officially named the �Double Flare Skirt One-Piece,� this newly released swimsuit allows young girls to cover up during swimming lessons at school. The skirt portion of the swimsuit features a double flare design and ruffled sleeves. It also has a raised, boat neck-style neckline, reducing the amount of exposed skin.

Japanese Media Tropes

Seiza Squirm

Scarf of Asskicking

Costume Tropes

School Uniforms are the New Black